Thomas leads Phoenix against Golden State after 20-point showing

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Phoenix Mercury (1-0, 1-0 Western Conference) at Golden State Valkyries (1-0, 1-0 Western Conference)

San Francisco; Sunday, 8:30 p.m. EDT

BOTTOM LINE: Phoenix Mercury visits the Golden State Valkyries after Alyssa Thomas scored 20 points in the Mercury's 99-66 win over the Las Vegas Aces.

Golden State finished 14-8 at home and 9-15 in Western Conference play during the 2025-26 season. The Valkyries allowed opponents to score 76.3 points per game and shoot 40.5% from the field last season.

Phoenix went 27-17 overall last season while going 13-11 in Western Conference play. The Mercury gave up 80.1 points per game while committing 17.8 fouls last season.

INJURIES: Valkyries: Iliana Rupert: out (pregnancy), Juste Jocyte: out (not injury related ).

Mercury: Sami Whitcomb: out (knee), Valeriane Ayayi: out (not injury related), Monique Akoa Makani: out (not injury related).

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.